Need Advice About Ex :(

My ex and I were together for almost together for 3 years before he messaged me one day saying he felt lost, needed to piece his life together and had to end things. I of course took this hard since I felt confused that he was unable to give me direct reasons why he had to end things asides from saying he needed space. I decided to respect that and didn't contact him for over a month, (felt like years) but during that month I was able to heal tremondously, pick up old hobbies, learn to live without him, and assess what I wanted moving forward. I concluded that I want him back and don't want us to end for good. I want to continue to give him space but we also adopted a guinea pig together a few weeks prior. When we got her she was sick so caring for her was hard from the start. Losing him and having to take full responsibility of her was difficult and I find myself struggling most days to give her the attention and care needed. Two weeks ago I messaged him saying how she's his responsibility too and how I want to at least be able to maintain a friendship and have contact with him. We talked via PS4 party the other night and things went OK but there's clear tension. I'd like to address the elephant in the room with us but my contact with him is limited as he barely responds to messages making me seem clingy and needy while that's not my intention. Conversation gone bad last night (my fault) has me stressed and my apology went ignored. Idk how to approach him now.